Stefan Edberg: I would not recommend a farewell tour to Roger Federer or anybody else

Swedish tennis legend Stefan Edberg says he would not recommend that a farewell tour for Roger Federer, or anybody else as it is very tough to handle. 

The Swiss tennis legend recently turned 39 years old. He last played at the Australian Open in January and underwent surgery on his knee in February and again in June. The Swiss legend has said that he would not play again in 2020 but will return to the courts in 2021.

Stefan Edberg says he would not recommend a farewell tour for Roger Federer

Edberg is a former World No. 1 in singles & doubles and and won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam doubles titles in his career. He is best known for his classic serve-and-volley style of tennis. The Swede was ranked in the singles top 10 for ten successive years and retired from the game in 1996. Besides being a top player himself, Edberg also coached Federer in 2014 and 2015.

Edberg, himself, announced a farewell tour in 1996 and in a recent appearance on the Tennis Podcast, he says he has spoken with Federer on the topic. “We actually talked about it and I would not recommend it to anybody even if it’s a nice thing to do because it does put too much pressure on yourself and there will be too many things going on in your mind. So, if you’re going to announce it, I would do it just before my last tournament… It’s just very tough to handle but at the same time, it was a memorable year. But, I would not recommend it.”

While Federer has not said whether he would have a farewell tour, he will surely take Edberg's advice into consideration. Before asking Edberg to join his coaching team, Federer had long been a fan of the Swede - saying that Edberg and Boris Becker were his idols while growing up. In an interview to the ATP Tour website last year, Edberg said, "Both [players] were very important for me. Of course, I was joking around also hoping one day I'd be a Wimbledon champion. This was more like how it is, just dreaming about it, not really believing it. Naturally after they retired, I thought Pete [Sampras] was the guy, the cool guy, the Wimbledon champ and everything. They were big. Yeah, 30 years ago, it's crazy. Can't believe it.”

Roger Federer is currently ranked No. 4 in the world and has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles in his career - the most by any player in men's tennis history.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3gPaI8P